#nebul chase

[optivion]

"That Razzes My Berries"

“That Razzes My Berries”

Concept Art – The Nebula Queen Concept Art – Wolf Flip Concep Art – Watching Concept Art – JUMP NEW MUSIC BELOW…Enjoy!!! https://open.spotify.com/album/2FTHtSr3pJyjK7jM5GnLJg?si=nDsxLqKvSeSV3TOUoarmPg https://open.spotify.com/album/6OivbXfopM2KWeouMoFXUs?si=-Jr7jsf8RF-IOdZ2eIsTVA https://open.spotify.com/album/2uxPHWLeNTNzwDD6t9o0Gq?si=A2otrfLERFecyOKrTfXK8A

[roetrolls]

So you considered her one of your children?

"If we must describe it so simply."

[blujayonthewing]

my mom who lives on hour away from me texted at 2:25 that she’s just leaving the house to come pick me up for my 3:30 appointment to look at dresses at a store 15 minutes away from me, do you see the problem here

[chronomally]

I love how The Untamed is like 2 episodes of the most confusing shit ever, the 30-episode saga/backstory of how Wei Wuxian became the man who has suffered most in this world, and then it jumps back to the future where Lan Zhan and his boyfriend's ghost run around solving cold cases

[cookinguptales]

Now that I’ve seen the episode with captioning…

The one thing I keep coming back to is that the Djinn said outright that his job is to teach his “masters” lessons about themselves and their desires and being better people. He’s supposed to punish greed, lust, pride, etc. So that makes the “punishment” he chose for Nandor that much more of a gutpunch.

He forces Nandor to think of Guillermo every time he uses his new dick, but more than that, he makes him think of what he’s done for him. He’s pinned Nandor immediately, hasn’t he? He understands the very strange brand of selfish selflessness he has to him, where he’s ostensibly thinking about pleasing others, but in a way that always puts his own emotions first.

And then he looks at Guillermo and he pins him down immediately, too, doesn’t he? I think this was a kind of revenge towards Guillermo, too. Not because he’s done anything wrong, per se, though. More just because he irritated him. lmao.

He’s looking at these two idiots and he sees the years and years of devotion and dismissiveness and the slowly building tenderness and respect between them that neither will examine too closely. He sees the way that Guillermo is trying to pull away but just can’t manage it. He sees the way that Nandor is finally, finally starting to understand everything Guillermo has always done for him.

He’s found those little wounds in them and he’s pressing down hard. 

He wants to force Nandor to understand how careless he’s been towards the best thing he has in his life. How dismissive he’s been towards the truly astronomical efforts Guillermo has put into making his desires a reality. How smart and talented and fierce Guillermo really is. How he’s a shark at the table when he’s just fucking allowed to be. He wants to make Nandor acknowledge what he has right next to him — and that he might’ve already lost it due to his own dickishness. That’s his lesson. That’s his revenge.

And Guillermo? He just wants to make Guillermo squirm. He wanted to put Guillermo in his place. That part, that smug little smile at the end, that part felt personal. I love that. I love that Guillermo went head to head with a fucking DJINN and would’ve come out on top if Nandor hadn’t fucked it up at the last minute. I love that the Djinn acknowledges Guillermo’s power and potential even if Nandor doesn’t, and that making Nandor acknowledge Guillermo’s passion and strength and cunning is a punishment for them both.

Fuck!! I am spilling over with emotion!! I love that Djinn pushing Nandor towards understanding real love (that may not currently be within reach for him) is his revenge for Nandor’s dumbass wife search. How kind and cruel and perfect!

(Note: I do not think that Guillermo is permanently out of reach for Nandor! But he’ll probably get in some quality pining time before it’s his turn.)

Side note: I also noticed that the Djinn was like “it wasn’t even that much bigger than yours already was, I was surprised you wanted more” so boyyyy is Nandor’s greed and perfectionism one of the issues he’s annoyed at! He’s been annoyed by that this whole damn time! He’s always chasing after something nebulously “better” than what he already has without realizing that what he already has is great! That’s the real character flaw here that’s being punished! That’s why finally noticing Guillermo was his punishment! But that’s a whole different rant!

[eldritch-spouse]

One day Nebul and Morell decide to swap their humans for a day. Morell got Nebul’s obedient masochistic pet and Nebul got Morell’s scaredy cat piglet

[I love this because it implies that they switch around humans for babysitting purposes, that's fucking beautiful. <X)]

You know what? I think they'd like the change.

Morell, although liking it when his piglet occasionally puts up a bit of a fight or runs away so he can chase after them, enjoys being around Nebul's trained human because you never flinch at his work and you'll listen to all his explanations about how your kind's meat is so complex and can be arranged in endless ways. You're so well-behaved, you're going to get lots of head pats and a cookie. Morell wouldn't really hurt you since he's not attracted to you as Nebul's human, but he enjoys the fact that you'd bleed for him if he wished for such.

Nebul is very amused. The fear doesn't last too long with his pets, so he doesn't always get to enjoy it much. It's also detrimental to keep humans afraid 24/7 after the "breaking down" part of training is over, so this feels like a fresh catch to train and that makes Nebul giddy. He'd probably put some discipline in you to make the chef's life easier. Nothing too harsh, he'll leave all the fun to Morell. Putting aside your tendency to panic and run, Nebul enjoys not having to deal with aggressive tantrums or having to bind your limbs for too long.

[cosmos-coma]

By Another Name - Part 2

A/N: The much awaited and requested part 2! Sorry it’s been a bit! there's been a lot of staff training and then I got/have Covid so its been a ride.. anyways enjoy!

Pairing: Geralt x reader

WC: 774

Warnings: gn!reader (no pronouns), unbeta’d, mild language

__________________________________________________

The tears glossing your eyes threatened to spill over and made your vision bleary as you walked out into the night, hardly a light to guide you save for the moon shining pitifully down on you. The urge to yell, vomit, and sob swelled and swirled in your head with each intake of breath. “Fuck!” you swore loudly as you stubbed your toe on a rock that, in the heat of the moment, you don't remember being there.

“Y/n…. you shouldn’t go out alone at night… and without light at that.” came Geralt's ever-reasonable voice behind you, along with soft following footsteps. You fucking hated it. 

“Fuck what I shouldn’t do, Geralt!” you yelled, whipping around and pouring all of the pain from both your foot and your heart into your words. “You know what else we shouldn’t do? We shouldn’t fuck Sorceresses! We shouldn’t ask a djinn to TIE YOU THROUGH FATE. How’s that for ‘shouldn’t’, Asshole?!” The tears filling your eyes broke their way past your lashes and finally ran down your face. The bitter and salty taste of tears hit your tongue and lips almost as if to rub in the misery.

Geralt sighed and slowed his pace behind you as he came up closer, leaving a few steps of distance just in case. “ Y/n, what is this really about..?” he asked, even voice just like always. 

Angry and sad tears just kept flowing as you plopped yourself onto the ground, legs laid out in front of you in a frustrated and tired manner. You sat in silence for a minute as you tried to put your nebulous thoughts into something tangible.

 “Why…” you started, eyes drawn to the ground in.. Anger? Sorrow? Tiredness? You weren’t really sure anymore. “Why do you miss her..?” you asked, looking up at him with pleading eyes. “Why do you miss her when you're with me..?”

Geralt’s eyes softened in the moonlight as his shoulders slumped, an unusually heavy sigh coming from him. With quiet steps he came closer, pausing to give you an out before moving to  sit beside you. You hated the way his warmth pulled you in right now but loved the security it made you feel. 

Letting out a heavy shouldered breath he began, “I don't miss her, Y/N… well, maybe I do. I’ve never been good at figuring things out where Yen is concerned.” he started, beginning to  ramble by a witcher's standards. “But I don’t miss being with her. I think… she’s just familiar,” his hand extended out to yours, palm up in an invitation.

Watching him slowly open up this part of himself made you soften a little, and without too much hesitation you slipped your hand into his. Anger still smoldered deep in your core, but was quickly fading as you dwelled on the feeling of his hand around yours.

“I spent so much of my time chasing her around and doing whatever she asked that I just… never realized how little she would to do for me in return.” his detailed eyes watched your hand slip into his, the perfect fit, as the cool touch of your fingertips keept him in the present. “ I was expendable because I was a witcher, everyone knew I would be fine…. But you don't treat me like that. You tell me to be safe on every contract I go on. You check over my wounds every time I come home to you. And you never hesitate to tell me you love me..” He kissed your knuckles and finally looked back up to you. 

Wiping your teary eyes, you could finally see Geralt's small smile facing you. “Oh, Geralt…” 

“You’re the change of pace I didn’t know I needed. So, please don't think I miss her when I'm with you. I think I’m just… still moving past that time…” your witcher finished, his words tinted with a touch of shame that you couldn't help but feel guilty for inciting. 

The embers of frustration and anger had completely subsided now and you flung your arms around him, head burying into his neck as you clung tightly to him. “I’m sorry Geralt… I- I know I kinda overreacted earlier. I was just… I think I was hurt at the thought that you might want more than I can offer, someone fascinating and powerful… But I'm really glad you opened up to me with this.” you said, continuing to nose into the crook of his neck, breathing in his subtle earthly aroma. “I love you so much, my white wolf.” 

“I love you too, sweetheart. Now lets get you back inside...”

__________________________________________________

Taglist: @writingmysanity @open--till--midnight

[windvexer]

Developing Incantations and Word-Based Charms

In contemporary witchcraft, cute little rhyming couplets are both common and fun to work with. It makes me feel like a Disney witch to chant little rhymes.

But it's also not necessary, or always even practical. I'm not a freestyler, I can't come up with based rhymes on the spot. So anyway, if you're looking for discourse on how to come up with your own word-based incantations and charms, here you go:

You can keep it simple and speak plainly in your everyday language. What's the difference between,

Creature of fire, this charge I lay: no phantom in thy presence stay! Hear my will addressed to thee; as my word, so mote it be!

and,

Candle flame, I give you this job: Chase away all illusions, uninvited spirits, and energies that conflict with my intent in this spell. As I command you, you have listened, and my will has been done.

?

The main difference, imo, is aesthetic. If you vibe with the nebulous implications of what a "phantom" is, and you like thys, thees, and motes, go with the former.

If you just want to sit there and figure out what you want, and then tell the candle to do that, go with the latter. It's going to pretty much do the exact same thing.

Now, that being said, the specific language used can really matter, especially when working in traditional currents. Going in to that in-depth is for another post, and it doesn't particularly apply to us for most circumstances.

Really think about exactly you want to have happen. I really believe there's a difference between "candle flame, chase away all unwanted spirits," and "candle flame, chase away all uninvited spirits." Consider the implications of your words.

The intent you feel in your heart does not automatically override the crystalized meaning of your words and actions.

Your words have incredible power. Once you invoke your intent with a specific word or phrase, that's what it is.

You can reuse and repurpose the good stuff. Way back when I was starting, I read Mastering Witchcraft by Paul Huson, where he presents two cleansing charms: one for saltwater, and one for incense. The saltwater one was a rhyming couplet that was easy to remember. "Water and earth, where you are cast, let no spell nor ill intention last not in complete accord with me. As my word, so mote it be."

The incense one was way longer and in a totally different, non-rhyming format. I wasn't fixing to memorize two things, so I modified the saltwater one: "Fire and air, where you flare, let no spell nor ill intention last..."

Easy.

There is no practical reason that all of your spells or charms must be totally independent and unique. In fact, if you use repeating lines shared between many charms, various theories of magic would say that this actually stores and shares more power between all of them.

Having a standard format can really help. Creating a format for all of your charms is a great way to explore your personal path, because you gotta sit there and ask what stuff is important for you and what you think magic requires in order to work. It can also really aid in building charms because you've already decided the kind of stuff you want to include, so you're not just starting with a blank slate. Here's an example:

Name the influencing powers/energies State what you want them to do Describe how your will becomes manifest Affirm that your will shall be done Close/seal charm

This might look like:

Sun and Moon, crown my room, and cradle me to sleep Not the outside world, nor stress, nor nightmares Will touch me while I'm in your keep My will is spoken, my word complete By my power: so mote it be

Standard formats can make memorization easier because you know what part comes next. If you've just finished naming the powers, next comes telling them what you want them to do.

Take pressure off of the development process by taking your charms out for test drives. I know you, friend. You're anxious about writing the perfect charm as an ideal vehicle for your magical power, and you might spend weeks tinkering with a single charm without ever getting out there and using it.

But here's the thing. How are you going to know if it's perfect if you've never used it? Like how do you know the changes you make are improvements if you don't already have a baseline effectiveness?

You can (and maybe should!) use rough draft, partially completed charms - even individual lines from charms - and try them out in your daily life. Practice putting your power into them, see how they flow, see how they blend with situations. A charm that looks perfect on paper may be clunky when you vibrate it through your mind. A charm that seems to flow well the first five times you use it might have strange, unwanted energies below the surface.

Remember, your charms aren't museum-quality historical artifacts; they are a living part of your craft that can evolve with you. I know, my beauties. We are all enchanted by the thought of a leather-bound tome to pass down to our students decades from now, hand-written in magical inks, our spells and charms immortalized for future generations. Maybe they'll name a school of witchcraft after us one day.

But if we maintain this ideal in our minds that the spells and charms we write have to be perfect, they're never going to get finished. Let me encourage you to accept fluidity when writing your charms, and modify them as-needed; even every time you use them. As good as you are at magic, I hope you will not be offended that I am betting against any of us writing a perfect charm used our whole lives, without ever reformatting or upgrading it.

So don't pressure yourself to make something pristine and perfect! Let your charms be your faithful hound dogs, your tools slung in your pack. Let them grow and learn with you, and become perfectly honed to the environments within which you work.

[ash-and-starlight]

Okay i have atla au brainrot and many thoughts about the pirate au. So if in book 1 zuko isnt chasing the avatar, it stands to reason that zhao would step up to be the ultimate antagonist, which means *naturally* zuko would still follow the gaang to make zhaos life a living hell. So instead of being “the crazy teenager following us around” zuko is “that weirdly short fire nation pirate who keeps showing up and helping us out”,,, i have many more thoughts but that is the most important part,,,

Awjdhsjdj you did it you reached into my brain and figured out my very nebulous thoughts for that au’s plot congrats. ANYWAY YEAH i’m crying thinking of zuko & crew being the bane of zhao’s existence lmao

[magicisinbooks]

The Ballad of Never After - Excerpt

Author: Stephanie Garber

1

There is a door deep inside the royal library of Wolf Hall that no one has opened for centuries. People have tried to set it on fire, break it with axes, and pick its lock with magic keys. But no one has so much as left a scratch on this stubborn door. Some say it mocks them. There is a wolf’s head wearing a crown emblazoned on the door’s wooden center, and people have sworn the wolf smirks at their failed attempts, or bares its sharp teeth if a person even comes close to opening this unopenable door.

Evangeline Fox had once tried. She had pulled and tugged and twisted the iron knob, but the door would not budge. Not then. Not before. But she hoped it would be different now.

Evangeline was very good at hoping.

She was also rather good at opening doors. With one drop of her willing blood, she could undo any lock.

First, she needed to be sure she wasn’t being watched or followed or stalked by that deceitful, apple-eating scoundrel whose name she wouldn’t even think.

Evangeline checked behind her shoulder. Her lantern’s ocher glow chased the nearby shadows away, but the bulk of Wolf Hall’s royal library stacks were nebulous with night.

She fidgeted nervously, and the lantern flickered. Evangeline had never been afraid of the dark before. Dark was for stars and dreams and the magic that took place in between days. Before losing her parents, she had constellation-watched with her father and listened to her mother tell stories by candlelight. And Evangeline had never been frightened.

But it wasn’t actually the dark or the night that she feared. It was the spider-thin prickle crawling across her shoulder blades. It had been with her since the moment she’d stepped out of her royal suite on a mission to unlock this door, in the hopes it would lead her to a cure that would save her husband, Apollo.

The uncanny sensation was so subtle, at first she let herself think it was merely paranoia.

She wasn’t being followed.

She’d heard no steps.

Until …

Evangeline peered into the library’s dark, and a pair of inhuman eyes stared back. Silver blue and brilliant and broken-star bright. She imagined they shone just to taunt her. But Evangeline knew that even if they sparkled now, even if these eyes lit up the dark and tempted her to lower her light, she couldn’t trust them. And she couldn’t trust him.

Jacks. She tried not to think his name, but it was impossible not to as she watched him saunter out of the dim, indolent yet confident and handsome as ever. He moved as if the night should have been afraid of him.

The tingling of her shoulder blades slid over her arms, an unsettling caress that went down to her one remaining broken heart scar. The wound stung, then throbbed, as if Jacks had sunk his teeth into it again.

Evangeline clutched her lantern like a sword.

“Go away, Jacks.” It had only been two days since she’d had the guards remove him, and she’d hoped he would have stayed away longer—forever would have been ideal. “I know what you did, and I don’t want to see you.”

Jacks shoved his hands into the pockets of his trousers. His smoke-gray shirt was loosely tucked in, with sleeves shoved up lean arms and buttons missing at the throat. With his tousled hair now golden instead of seductive midnight blue, he looked more reckless stableboy than calculating Fate. But Evangeline knew she could never let herself forget what Jacks truly was. He was obsessive and driven and entirely without morals or conscience.

The stories said his kiss was deadly to all except his one true love, and as he’d searched for her, he’d left a trail of corpses. Evangeline had once been naive enough to believe that meant the Prince of Hearts understood heartbreak because his heart had broken over and over as he looked for love. But now it was crystal clear—he was the one who did the breaking, because he didn’t know how to love.

Jacks spoke softly. “I understand if you’re upset—”

“If,” Evangeline cut in. “You poisoned my husband!”

Jacks lifted his shoulders in an insouciant shrug. “I didn’t kill him.”

“That’s not something you earn points for.” She fought to keep her voice from cracking.

Until then, Evangeline hadn’t realized that a part of her still held on to a sliver of hope that Jacks was innocent. But he wasn’t even trying to deny it. He didn’t care that Apollo was little more than a corpse, just as he hadn’t cared when Evangeline had been turned to stone.

“You need to stop holding me to human standards,” Jacks drawled. “I’m a Fate.”

“That’s exactly why I don’t want to see you. Since I met you, my first love was turned to stone, I was turned to stone, then I was turned into a fugitive, multiple people have tried to murder me, and you poisoned my husband—”

“You already said that one.”

Evangeline glowered.

Jacks sighed and leaned against a nearby bookshelf as if her feelings were the emotional equivalent of a sneeze—something to be gotten over quickly, or avoided simply by stepping out of the way. “I’m not going to apologize for being what I am. And you’re conveniently forgetting that before we met, you were a sad orphan with a broken heart and a wicked stepsister. After I stepped in, you became the sweetheart savior of Valenda, married a prince, and became a princess.”

“Those things only happened because they served your twisted interests.” Evangeline seethed. Everything he’d done for her was just so that he could use her to open the Valory Arch. “Children treat their toys better than you’ve treated me.”

Jacks’s eyes narrowed. “Then why didn’t you stab me, Little Fox? The other night in the crypt, I threw you a dagger, and I was close enough for you to use it.” His gaze sparked with fresh amusement as it lowered to her neck. To the exact place his mouth had lingered three nights ago.

She blushed at the unwanted memory of his teeth and tongue on her skin. He’d been infected with vampire venom, and she’d been infected with stupidity.

She’d stayed with him that night to keep him occupied so he wouldn’t feed on human blood and become a vampire himself. He hadn’t, but he’d fed on her sympathy instead. Jacks had told her the story of the girl who’d made his heart beat again—Princess Donatella. She was supposed to be his one true love, but instead of filling that role, Princess Donatella had chosen another and stabbed Jacks in the chest.

After hearing that story, Evangeline had started to see Jacks as the sympathetic Prince of Hearts that she had first gone to for help. But Jacks was all broken without any heart. And she needed to stop hoping that he could be more.

“I made a mistake that night in the crypt.” Evangeline banished the blush from her cheeks and looked straight into Jacks’s inhuman eyes. “But give me another chance and I won’t hesitate to stab you.”

He smirked, flashing dimples he didn’t deserve. “I’m almost tempted to test that claim. But you’ll have to do more than wound me if you wish to get rid of me.” Jacks pulled an intensely white apple from his pocket and started tossing it. “If you really want me out of your life forever, help me find the missing stones and open the Valory Arch. Then I promise you’ll never see me again.”

“As much as I’d love that, I’m never going to open that arch for you.”

“What about for Apollo?”

Evangeline felt a sharp stab of pain for the prince and another flare of anger for Jacks. “Don’t you dare say his name.”

Jacks grinned wider, looking oddly pleased by her anger. “If you agree to help me, I’ll wake him from his suspended state.”

“If you actually believe I would do that, you’re delusional.” Her first bargain with Jacks was the start of this entire mess. There would be no more deals with him, no more partnerships, no more anything. “I don’t need you to save Apollo. I’ve found another way.” Evangeline lifted her chin toward the sealed library door. It was still half-covered in shadow, but she swore the crowned wolf’s head grinned as if it knew that she was the one who’d finally open its lock.

Jacks took one look at the door and chuckled, quiet and mocking. “You think you’ll find a cure for Apollo in there?”

“I know I will.”

Jacks laughed again, darker this time, and took a cheerful bite of his apple. “Let me know when you change your mind, Little Fox.”

“I won’t change my—”

He was gone before she could finish. All that lingered was the echo of his ominous laughter.

But Evangeline refused to be nettled. She’d been told by an old librarian that this door led to every missing book and story about the Valors. Although the North’s first royal family was human, it was widely accepted that they all possessed remarkable powers. Honora Valor, first queen of the North, was said to be the greatest healer of all time. And Evangeline had very good reason to believe that among the stories on the other side of this door were tales about her healing, which hopefully included a way to bring someone back from a state of suspended sleep.

Evangeline pulled out her dagger, a jewel-hilted blade with a few missing gems. It was actually Jacks’s—the same one he’d tossed at her the night they’d spent in the crypt. He’d left it behind in the morning, and she still wasn’t sure why she’d picked it up. She didn’t want to keep it—not anymore—but she hadn’t had time to replace it yet, and it was the sharpest thing she owned.

One prick of the dagger and her blood welled red. She pressed it to the door and whispered the words “Please open.”

The lock instantly clicked. The knob easily twisted.

For the first time in centuries, the door swung open.

And Evangeline understood why Jacks had been laughing.

2

Evangeline stepped through the door, and the ground beneath her crumbled as if her slippers had found crackers instead of stones. It was rather like her hope: rapidly disintegrating.

This room was supposed to hold shelves of books on the Valors, answers to her questions, a cure for Prince Apollo. But there was only a wheeze of cloudy air, wafting in swirls around a dramatically carved marble arch.

Evangeline closed her eyes and opened them as if she could blink the arch away and the precious books would appear in its place. Sadly, Evangeline’s blinks did not contain magic.

Still, she refused to give up.

In the Meridian Empire, where she was from, this arch would have just been a decorative curve of carved rock, large enough to frame a set of doors. But this was the Magnificent North, where arches were something else entirely. Here, arches were magical portals built by the Valors.

This arch had mighty angels clad in armor carved into the columns, like warriors on opposite sides of an eternal battle. One of the angels had a bowed head and a broken wing; it looked almost sad, while the other appeared angry. Both had their swords drawn and crossed over the center, warning away anyone who might wish to enter.

But Evangeline wasn’t just anyone. And if anything, the forbidden nature of the arch made her want to look inside even more.

Maybe this arch was a gateway to the books and the cure that she needed for Apollo. If the old librarian was right about this room containing all the stories on the Valors, perhaps the angels were protecting the books from the story curse so that they would stay uncorrupted. Maybe all she needed to do was press her blood to one of their swords and they would politely step aside to let her enter.

She took another step, feeling a hopeful thrill as she pricked her finger on the dagger once again and pressed her welling blood to one of the angels’ swords.

It lit up like a candle. Glowing gold veins spiderwebbed across the stone swords, the angels, the entire arch. It was bright and light and magical. Her skin tingled as the dust on the arch floated up and sparkled all around her like tiny bursting stars. Air that had been cold was now warm. She’d known she was meant to enter this room, to find this arch, to open—

Suddenly, the breath whooshed from her lungs as the thought triggered the warning Apollo’s younger brother, Tiberius, had given her: You were meant to open it. Magic things always do that which they were created to do.

And Tiberius believed that Evangeline was created to unlock the Valory Arch.

She staggered back, hearing the memory of Jacks’s laugh again. This time it didn’t sound dark at all. It sounded amused, entertained, happy.

“No,” she whispered.

The stones still gleamed with gold threads that wove around the columns. She watched as they spread across the top, lighting up a series of curving words that had not been visible before.

Conceived in the north, and born in the south, you will know this key, because she will be crowned in rose gold.

She will be both peasant and princess, a fugitive wrongly accused, and only her willing blood will open this arch.

Evangeline’s blood ran cold.

These were not just words. This was—she didn’t even want to think it. But pretending would not erase or change anything. This was the Valory Arch prophecy, the one that Jacks had manipulated her to fulfill. Which meant that this wasn’t just another arch. This was the Valory Arch.

Panic replaced every other feeling.

It shouldn’t have been possible. The arch was supposed to be in pieces. Although there were two conflicting tales about the Valory’s magical contents, everyone had agreed about one thing: the Valory Arch had been broken into pieces and hidden across the North to keep anyone from knowing what the prophecy was and to prevent anyone from putting the arch back together.

“No, no, no, no, no…” Frantically, Evangeline tried to wipe her blood from the stones before Jacks or anyone else could discover what she’d done. The angels hadn’t changed their pose, but she feared that any second a door would appear behind them or they would move aside. She spat and scrubbed with the sleeve of her cloak. But the glowing arch didn’t dim.

“I knew you could open the door.”

The scratchy voice was too old to belong to Jacks. But the sound of it stopped Evangeline’s heart all the same.

“My apologies, Your Highness. I see I’ve frightened you again.”

“Again?” She turned.

The man in the doorway was almost as small as a child, but far older than Evangeline, with a long, silver beard that held threads of gold, which matched the burnished trim on his white robes.

“You…” For a moment she remained too nervous to form words. “You’re the librarian who first showed me the door to this room."

[goddessofroyalty]

To the person that wanted Vanco with Viktor as his kid as well as the others, my brain figured it out – here’s 1500 words.

Also every name everyone calls each other has like… 100 words worth of stuff it’s supposed to clue you in on world building wise that I am very aware it doesn’t actually. There is justifications for it all though I promise.

Pairings: Vander/Silco, pre-Jayce/Viktor

Tags: omegaverse, Viktor is Vanco’s eldest kid, canon divergence generally (no Vanco Divorce, Act 1 goes slightly differently)

-------------------

“Wait I know you!”

When Viktor said he might have a solution to their funding issue Jayce hadn’t known what to expect. But it wasn’t the back entrance to a bar in the Undercity and a blue-haired girl he had been told he must have hallucinated.

The girl staring up at him is definitively the one he saw in his old lab at the Kiramman’s right before the explosion that changed the trajectory of his life though.

Which means that Cait had been lying about being the one to accidently cause it. And Jayce had been right that there were others there.

“Powder who are you talking to?” another voice says from inside the bar and a pink-haired girl appears behind the other. A girl around the same age as Cait is.  

Alpha Jayce picks up off her scent but she’s young enough that it’s not the full alpha scent. She definitively has the protective edge of it though, unlike Cait’s whose omega scent has gotten any of the real trademarks of the designation other than just a nebulous knowing she is one. People grow up faster in the Undercity Jayce supposes, especially when they have younger siblings to look after.

Although now that he thinks about it more there is something about both girls’ scents that reminds him of Viktor.

“Viktor! Why are you here?” the pink-haired alpha says, suddenly breaking into a grin before peering at Jayce with suspicion. “With a Piltie alpha?”

“I need to talk to Silco,” Viktor says, going to walk in only to be stopped by the blue-hair girl. Powder the older one had called her.

“You have to pay the toll first,” she says, her arms crossed.

Jayce almost goes to dig through his pockets for some money but Viktor’s sigh stops him.

“I was in a bit of a hurry, I, ah, forgot your present this time sorry,” Viktor says, “next time, I promise.”

The little one pouts and the young alpha rests her hands on her shoulders and seems to try and lead her away.

“You can’t expect a present every time Viktor visits,” she says and the little one seems to contemplate it for a moment.

“Fine,” she declares. “I’ll tell Dam you brought home a Piltie boyfriend then.”

“Wait- Powder- Don’t!” Viktor takes a step as if to chase after her but he doesn’t stand a chance, the girl off like a shot. Jayce reaching forward to grab Viktor’s arm that doesn’t have his cane to help him steady himself again.

Jayce doesn’t need to understand the language to know what comes out of Viktor’s mouth next is a curse.

“Well you’re screwed,” the pink-haired alpha says, watching them with sharp eyes. “Why did you bring him anyway?”

“He is my partner, ah, work partner,” Viktor corrects because the young alpha’s face clearly thinks he means the other kind. And while Jayce wouldn’t be against being the other kind of partner they hadn’t had that conversation yet.

“Right,” the pink-haired alpha says, scanning Jayce up and down. He has no idea how someone so young can still actually seem to be sizing him up and be actually intimidating with it. “Does this ‘partner’ have a name?”

“Jayce Talis,” Jayce says, holding out his hand.

It earns him a snort but the young alpha takes it.

“Vi,” she says, her handshake firm. “I’m the one that’ll beat you up if you screw over my brother after Silco leaves you in a gutter somewhere.”  

“Silco,” Jayce says after Vi steps aside to let them in. Jayce following Viktor through the corridors he assumes towards the bar. “I know that name.”

“You should,” Viktor says, but doesn’t offer anything else to help jog Jayce’s memory as they walk into the main part of the bar.

The man waiting for them quickly does the job of reminding Jayce who exactly Silco was. His face a lot harder to forget than this name. He had been there at the hearing as well – the Zaun representative – not that he had been allowed to vote because of the investigation that was still determining if there was any Undercity involvement in the explosion.

He somehow looks even more pissed off now than then he did then.

The blue-haired girl is sitting on the bar with a smug expression, making Jayce fairly certain he knows what is making Silco look so pissed. And if Vi is Viktor’s sister he feels fairly safe in guessing that it means Silco is Viktor’s Dam.

Which would have been nice to know earlier but Jayce supposes he hadn’t asked.

“Let the boy have a chance to explain himself Sil,” the alpha next to Silco says, running a knuckle up and down the omega’s side as if to try and calm him. And it is a testament to just how pissed off Silco looked that Jayce had somehow failed to notice the alpha at first despite the fact he was at least twice Jayce’s size. He clearly Silco’s mate and that means he’s probably Viktor’s sire.

Jayce can see it, he supposes. Although he doesn’t know where the two girls got their hair from.

“Fine,” Silco says with a glance behind him to the alpha, “Vitya, explain.”

“Jayce is my work partner,” Viktor says to thankfully get that misunderstanding cleared up. “And I brought him here because we wanted to discuss a business opportunity with you.”

Silco eyes Jayce up and down and Jayce tries to present himself as the kind of person one should invest in. Not that he knows if that’s the same in the Undercity as it is in Piltover.

“We can discuss this in my office,” Silco says, his anger deflating slightly. But there still a clear defensive edge in the omega’s scent.

“That’s great!” Jayce is already starting to move when Silco holds a finger up at him.  

“Not you, I will discuss this with my son first.”

“Right, sure.” Viktor was more than able to sell Hextech by himself even if Jayce wanted to be there as emotional support.

Not that Viktor would need emotional support for a conversation with his parent right?

Viktor doesn’t seem concerned at least. So Jayce flashes him a supportive smile as his partner follows his Dam into the back of the bar.

A second later Jayce realizes it leave him alone with the rest of Viktor’s family.

“They’ll probably be a while,” Viktor’s Sire says, heading back behind the bar. “Want a drink while you wait?”

“Sure,” Jayce says, because it would be rude to turn the offer down. Plus it gives him something to do, sitting at the bar and holding out his hand to the older alpha. “I’m Jayce Talis by the way.”

“Vander,” the alpha says, putting a drink in front of Jayce before taking the offered hand.

It’s said you can learn a lot about someone from their handshake. All Jayce is getting is that Vander’s grip is strong and Jayce is fairly sure he feels his knuckles almost give before the alpha releases him.

He wonders what Vander thinks of his own handshake then. Probably that it’s weak in comparison.

Not that he needs to impress him more than any other possible business partner.

“Vi and Powder are Viktor’s sisters right?” Jayce asks, taking a sip of the drink and almost spitting it out from how strong it is. He forces himself to swallow to not seem rude.

“Yeah,” Vander says, starting to clean the bar. Which doesn’t offend Jayce – they did interrupt by arriving unexpectedly. “Plus Claggor and Mylo, the other two boys, they’re downstairs doing stock take but’ll come up soon enough.”

“Doesn’t Viktor talk about us?” Powder asks, making Jayce jump from how she seems to suddenly appear at his side.

“We mostly talk about work.” Jayce had tried to start talking to Viktor about his family but the omega had seemed reluctant and Jayce had dropped the topic.

He doesn’t really understand the reluctance now. They seemed like a good family if a bit abnormal.

“What does he normally bring you when he visits?” Jayce asks to chance the topic, remembering the conversation about the ‘toll’.

“Something for my inventions.”

“You make things too?” Viktor wasn’t the only member of his family that had the need to create?

“Yeah!” the girl says, suddenly beaming and leaning over the bar to grab something out. Proudly slamming something on the table in front of Jayce.

“It’s a bomb?” Jayce realizes after examining the additions to the clapping monkey toy. He glances at Vander but the alpha doesn’t seem all that bothered by his still unpresented daughter building bombs.

“It’s a flash bomb,” Powder corrects like Jayce is an idiot. “Just to scare away mean people. At least it should if it goes off when it’s meant to.”

“Can I take a look?” Jayce asks, because he understands an inventors want to keep how their creations work to themselves.

“Sure,” Powder says pushing it over to him.

It’d weird working on a bomb with the intent to make it work. Doubly so one made by a child he is fairly certain broke into his lab less than a year ago.

Powder’s Viktor’s sister though and that has to grant her a level of trust right?

“It’s the connection between your timing mechanism and the flash, the wire itself is shit,” Jayce says, already digging into his coat pocket because he thinks he has some spare wire in there. “Here, try this.”

Powder looks at the offered wire.

“And this will make it work?” she asks.

“Should, unless there’s something else as well.”

A second passes and then suddenly the girl snatches the wire from his hand, grabbing her bomb and running off.

“Powder!” Vander calls after her and she stops dead in her tracks.

“Oh, right – thank you Jayce!” she says and then bolts off again.

“That was the right thing to do right?” Jayce asks Vander because, again, he just helped a girl build a bomb.

Vander shrugs.

“Should make her hate you a little less,” he says.

“Oh good. Wait- why would she hate me?”

[blenderfullasarcasm]

For the WIP game:

Who is getting married??? (also who are they marrying) and i'm curious to know if this person's future spouse is aware their s/o has been ghosting their entire family so well they think the s/o is actually dead

an excellent question!

short answer: bernard dowd and tim drake (and later conner kent) from DC comics, and not until all three meet up

long answer:

so the first thing you need to know about this fic is that it's the timberkon stardust au, so it takes place in a sort of nebulous regency/fantasy era (like princess bride or eragon or...got maybe? idk I haven't seen it)

anyway in stardust one of the first scenes in the movie is the MC confessing his love to a pretty girl from his village and her saying that she'll marry him if he manages to bring her the shooting star that fell to the ground on the other side of the wall surrounding the village that no one is allowed past. she says he has a week. he accepts.

anyway long story short the star is actually a woman and the MC ends up falling in love with her over the course of the movie.

(a lot of other things happen too but they aren't relevant to this ask)

anyway in this story I give the person playing the part of pretty village girl (Tim Drake) an altered backstory

so instead of pretty village girl having always lived in the village and never leaving it, in this au Tim appears mysteriously a few years before the story starts. He stumbles into town one day, clearly injured and wearing strange clothing, slightly smoking, and collapses in the town square.

(what an entrance)

anyway the village midwife (it's a small village so she's the closest thing they have to a doctor) takes him in and takes care of him

(bernard sneaks in to peer at the mysterious stranger, and his face is the first thing tim sees when he wakes up, and they stare at each other for a long moment before the midwife chases him out)

tim doesn't really remember how he got to this planet? time period? alternate universe? so he follows his tracks back to wherever he was before he found the village

good news: there's a machine that's probably responsible for his situation!

bad news: it's broken and he has no idea what it's supposed to do

so he goes back to the village and just barely ever talks about his life before he came to the village. some of the villagers think he's lost his memories from before he arrived. some of them think he's been living in the woods his whole life. some of them think he's a cryptid.

(bernard enjoys coming up with increasingly wild conspiracy theories about tim's origins. tim enjoys listening to bernard talk and occasionally pokes holes in his theories.)

the midwife takes him on as her apprentice bc he has some scant knowledge of their "modern" medicine, and he hangs out with bernard or he works on the machine during his free time. that's definitely an "or" though bc he doesn't let anyone from the village see the machine bc he doesn't want to accidentally mess with the timeline, so it has to be a secret.

(this is red robin era tim so he's at arguably his lowest mentally and also mostly isolated from his family, so he's dragging his heels a bit, unsure if he's welcome back or if he should just accept that their ties have been severed/his job is over)

but when bernard proposes, well.

the batfam (and yj core four) are the closest thing that Tim has to family left, so he wants them to at least know the wedding is happening even if none of them end up coming

so when bernard offers to go get the star that fell to earth, Tim jumps on that idea and encourages him to go for it (though assures him that Tim will still marry him even if he comes back empty handed)

so as soon as bernard leaves to cross the wall and go on an adventure to get the star (kon) and bring him back to meet tim, Tim sprints to the wreckage of the machine and spends three sleepless nights fixing it enough to get a message through

back on earth, everyone thinks tim is dead (maybe he disappeared after falling out the window during the battle with ras? maybe while he was in the unternet? maybe during the zod kidnapping thing? idk) so they are very surprised when an invitation to his engagement appears in the middle of the batcave during a briefing

they then drop everything and spend like five days pinpointing Tim's location and finding a way to get there

(tim: *surprised pikachu face* you actually came?)

(batfam + bart and cassie, dressed like they're about to storm a castle jic tim needs rescuing and the engagement invitation was an SOS: obviously???)

(tim, trying not to cry: would you like to meet my fiances)

(batfam + bart and cassie: absolutely! wait, fiances, plural?)

(tim: oh yeah, a couple things have changed since i sent that invitation. this is bernard, and you remember kon right?)

(batfam + bart and cassie: CONNER???)

(yeah sorry this got very long)

[mellointheory]

For a while we weren't given a glimpse at c!Antfrost's motivations and morals, but in light of recent reveals it is a lot easier to now realize what a loyal and caring person he actually is.

Antfrost's most consistent character trait is loyalty. He stuck by Bad and Sam's side until they started the Badland's together. Even after he was possessed he continued to help both of them out. He was Bad's right hand in Eggpire events: feeding the egg, caring for the vines, chasing down converts, and building the banquet hall. He also worked for Sam as a prison guard during this time, somehow always managing to be on call when there was a breach and Sam summoned him (specifically in the Prisson Dick and the Keycard incidents).

He values loyalty. His speech to Puffy at the Banquet, although clouded by the Egg's influence, still showed his point of view of the situation: she betrayed them. In his mind, leaving your friends behind is one of the worst things you could do. Somehow, even worse than trapping people to ritually sacrifice them to a life-sucking egg.

Antfrost is also a deeply caring person (the juxtaposition between this and my previous sentence is sending me ngl). After the forming of the Badlands, it was Antfrost who specifically pointed out to Awesamdude that they should reach out to Ponk, because he must be lonely living all by himself. It was Antfrost who released Niki at the Battle of the Lake when he was supposed to be holding her hostage. It was Antfrost who brought Tommy a mushroom cow named after his old dead pet.

It was Antfrost who, driven by shame, went to Foolish to try to make amends for what he did. It was Antfrost who demanded that Bad needed to apologize and face what they did to their friends. It was Antfrost who went to Puffy and said he was sorry.

And the entire motivation behind his possession in the first place? It was regaining contact with the love of his life. We don't know what happened to Red, but it was enough that Ant had no other way of regaining him than working for the Egg.

Ant's consistent driving motivation is staying by his friend's sides. He is kind to people who he may not even consider close to himself. Yes, he is outwardly a chaotic figure with nebulous motives, but a closer look gives us the kind--if still morally grey--person he really is.

[dreamcrow]

so i know we don't talk about That Movie or anything but i'm sitting here thinking about bellroc and nari and my perennial hill to kill on of the arcane order actually care about each other when it hits me that. the first time we see nari after douxie pulls off the bodyswap: her body language does not at all convey fear

look at her—that expression is grateful, exhausted, a little surprised, maybe, but not afraid. her grin is almost playful. she's not nearly as frightened as she looked during the train fight, just a few moments earlier! and her good mood continues, throughout her scenes at the police station and even into the strategy shots inside camelot. for that entire time, she only starts showing distress when douxie starts getting actively tortured—not when he's otherwise only in custody.

which makes that torture feel...kind of like a cheap gimmick, tbh? out of left field, at best. admittedly everyone was out of character in rott, but...leaving that aside for the moment, everything we know about the order indicates they've known each other, very well, for a very long time. surely nari must have known what douxie could expect from them, especially after they catch his deception; she doesn't hesitate on, or sugarcoat, a similar warning when she says the order will surely rip your soul to pieces. at the same time, we know nari must know how to push the other order members' buttons: she teases skrael to his face ("so old! and they still haven't learned manners"), and we also know that bellroc seems mildly vexed by her "habit of playing with humans, despite [their] warnings."

so i just. hm. villain apology on main, i guess, but i feel like this leaves us with a few obvious options for interpretation. (tossing them under the cut, bc this is already getting long.)

option one: nari had no idea bellroc and skrael would resort to torturing douxie. given how long she's known them (and vice versa), and the fact that she's not hesitated to warn douxie of impending unpleasantness in the past, this seems unlikely.

option two: nari knew bellroc and skrael were going to torture douxie, but spent the entire interim doing nothing about it (not even warning her allies) and actually goofing off (see: singing in the police station, chasing archie around) until it started affecting her personally. while i'm not ruling out straight up stupid writing, this...also seems unlikely. rott!nari is spacey, but she's still undeniably presented as one of the good guys; while i think there's definitely a case for reading nari as a morally grey/neutral character—she never says what the order is doing is wrong—i don't think rott is the one to make it definitely not well, and definitely not on purpose, lmao

option three: nari's nonchalance after the bodyswap is informed. she knows bellroc and skrael have douxie, and that they'll figure this out soon enough. but she also knows, or thinks she knows, that neither she nor douxie are in serious danger because of it. this isn't an ideal situation, but it frustrates...whatever nebulous ills the genesis seals are supposed to be bringing about.

SO IF YOU'VE READ THIS FAR,,, i mean i think it's pretty obvious which one i'm at, right!! maybe she wasn't expecting it and they did it anyway. which: juicy! but i don't trust this writing enough to think it was written that way on purpose, lmao. the order knew each other. nari only says the order was wrong as the camera cuts to bellroc, the first time we see them after being blinded. no logical reading of nari's actions also permits a reading where she expected them to torture douxie. there is a ton of bad writing in rott that i am not even going to try to make make sense (fucking "naughty girl") but the more i think about it the more i simply cannot see a cogent justification for the torture in the first place. either it was supposed to be a believable course of action—which it isn't, not on the order's actions from wizards nor on nari's own behavioral testimony in the script up to this point—OR it was an exceptionally lazy signal to the audience. Look At This Evil Queer, who is evil, because, uh. reasons. now quick, check out this sweet kidz bop pacific rim mech fight.

anyway. this was a rambling, meandering mess. i don't know exactly what my point was, but if you got all the way through this: here, you deserve a cookie. 🍪

[lovesomehate]

Travis and Laura as neighbors.

Laura is the new young lady on the street of trees and two story houses. Whose house is right next to Travis.

Laura whose living here for school and a new start, who is in a long distance relationship with her boyfriend. Travis whose still a cop and is kind and awkward albeit an ass at times.

Laura and he switch between petty arguments and having to work together for common annoyances, like the kids from the next street over who made the mistake of egging Laura's house. They didn't think she'd be that fast and willing to chase down a kid and they didn't expect Travis to be on his way home. He should be arresting her for restraining a child, but he's off duty. Now he's Travis who lives in the neighborhood and is head of the neighborhood watch who had his house targeted far too many times.

Laura wants some changes applied to her house. Travis' brother Bobby is a jack of all trades handyman. Travis helps Bobby and Laura knew Travis was in shape, but she didn't expect what she saw even with the soft touch of age on his body. Now she's bringing water out to her neighbor who's shirtless and cutting wood on her front lawn for further construction.

Laura is one of the few people with a pool. Travis knew she was attractive but he doesn't know how to handle it. She likes to sit in her backyard and sunbathe. One of the rooms upstairs gives Travis a far too perfect view. He'd be lying if he said he didn't stare. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't a pervert touching himself when he watched her skinny dipping sometimes.

Their bedroom windows are right across from one another and they've set up a politeness rule, but sometimes. Sometimes Travis still catches Laura coming out of her shower, dropping her towel, and going about her prep. He really shouldn't have watched when he caught her masturbating. Laura really needed to get blinds, but she didn't cause Travis had them, and sometimes he forgot to shut them. She was thrilled about that. She's heartbroken seeing more of Travis' scars but can't help but admire how they add an extra ruggedness to his charm. She loves watching him sway to his music in private and getting an exclusive look at his wardrobe when he trying to pick out his outfit for normal occasions. She knows he watches her masturbate and she loves it, it makes her orgasm hit harder.

Max came to visit. Laura awkwardly introduced him. All the ladies loved him and the men were trying to figure out how to toughen him up. Travis tried his best, but still came off somewhat hostile, Laura felt like she was introducing her boyfriend to the man she was cheating on with. She wasn't even seeing Travis.

Travis wasn't supposed to be someone who was that good with love, he isn't someone that simply brings one-night stands home. Those are the nebulous rules that Laura placed and assumed of Travis. But here she is sitting in the dark of her room feigning sleep and trying to not focus on Travis kissing some woman when it should be Laura. Seeing the woman stroke his cock when it should be Laura. The woman gets to her knees and takes Travis into her mouth, Laura wanted to show him how she would worship him with her mouth. The couple is moving all around the room when they end up and the window. The lady's legs are wrapped around Travis' waist and her back is against the window. Travis' view is out the window and he see's Laura. He doesn't break eye contact with Laura as he fucks his date, getting harder with each thrust. That's how he would fuck Laura. The lady leaves the next morning with basic politeness and dignity. Travis doesn't see her again. He doesn't see anyone else.

The neighbors can't help but notice the two growing closer and the reactions are mixed. "She's too young for him. Who would've thought Travis was a cradle-robbing pervert? " "And she seemed like a girl with good standards. So loose, I feel bad for her sweet boyfriend." "They're pretty good together. Travis needs someone to put with his nonsense and Laura's boyfriend is too much of a pushover."

It's a block party and all the houses are lined with various forms of entertainment, everyone's in their summer wear, the food is good and drinks are going. Max is in town and Travis family has come by. With the exception of Constance and to some extent Jed, Laura loves the family. Travis is still a bit standoffish with Max. They lose track of their people as the party rolls on and eventually they lull into an argument, as they do. Everyone's watching, their fights can be pretty entertaining, but the fight takes an odd turn. Revelations about what they've seen one another because Travis is "too old to remember to close his blinds and should stop taking peeks into her backyard." and because Laura is "too forgetful and needs to get blinds, stop coming to him for so many problems if she can't stand him, and maybe she should act like she has a boyfriend instead of flirting." Then there's a light push and a surge and they're holding one another close just too long. The feeling of eternity wrapped in a second.

They separate like they each touched fire. Max is furious and leaves, Laura right on his heels. Travis breaks through the crowd and locks himself away in his house, fever so grateful that he backed out of having something set up for everyone on his lawn.

Travis' job requires him to leave early, but he leaves even earlier after the incident. It's odd for him and Laura to look and talk to neighbors they stopped talking to one another at all if possible. Gossip spreads and even their jobs loose some sort of sanctity. Travis isn't hearing the end of it from his family in the form of fury, disbelief, and thrill. Max refuses to talk to Laura, Travis didn't simply pull her into a kiss, she actively went into the kiss and clung to him as well.

Things have to change eventually. Laura decides that she should talk to Travis about it and she catches him as he's about to leave his house, it's his day off and he's in casual clothes getting into his other car. Travis is still trying to avoid the issue, but he realizes he can't for long. He's on the way to lunch, Laura can join him if she hasn't eaten. She hasn't.

The talk takes a moment to happen and ends up starting in the car on the way to and in the parking lot of the diner. They shouldn't have kissed, but what they were accusing one another of, was it true? It wasn't meant to be so mean, but the thoughts behind the feelings weren't false. They continue in the diner, a talk of what they want to do and even then if they should. Travis is so old and Laura nips that topic in the butt faster than the speed of light.

It's settled and decided. They will date, but this isn't the first. It's date 0 agreement and test run. They take off from there, dealing with the immediate issues. Travis shut down his family's words and alongside Laura the neighborhood's words. Laura apologizes to Max and they break up, he gives her a little time to settle with that.

And things go on with the right differences. They need to figure out the house in the future (more than likely living in Laura's house), for now, they leave one another's house at random, kiss goodbye, good morning, have a nice day, and goodnight. They go on dates and unabashedly hold hands and cling to one another outside. There's laughter close together, passionate nights, and intimacy they can lock away for themselves. They can hold one another in their arms. Travis soothes her when she's fretting over assignments, and Laura gives him massages for his aching muscles.

Laura's so happy she moved and Travis is so happy he's still alive for this. They're both so happy that they can say "I Love You"

IM IN LOVE WITH THIS AU ASDFGHJKL IT IS SO FUCKING SOFT AND GOOD IM DYING 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

[eldritch-spouse]

Table-Eating anon here with a relatively normal question (HOW DARE I??)... Do the Clergy like animals? Like, would they positively, internally freak out if they came face-to-face with a puppy/cat/rabbit/whatever the fuck? I can just imagine Patches sat at his desk doing paperwork with a cup of coffee at his desk and a big cat just curled up on his lap, or Gallon watching a little rabbit hop about ontop of the bar... Idk please just let me have this--

[Asking me for mercy is about the same as begging an executioner, anon. Now put your head in the guillotine. <3]

Ehhhhhh- How about this:

Can be trusted alone with animals:

Nebul. He loves them. He's the saving grace of any animal that stumbles into The Clergy or otherwise any other creature that the establishment itself concocts via foreign elements deposited in its garden.

Belo. He has no drive to hurt animals and will actually save them from peril unless instructed by Krulu to do otherwise. He has a particular fondness for any lifeforms generated by Krulu himself or The Clergy.

Gallon. Although he shares no particular fondness for animals, he will also not go out of his way to protect them unless he has somehow bonded with them.

Fank-e. Squishie enthusiast. Loves animals, super curious about them, but- Do not let him keep pets, he can't even keep a plant. Ends up scaring most animals away with his loud nature anyway.

Santi. Genuinely enjoys animals, though has no desire for standard pets as of now. Will probably guide things out of The Clergy if he has the chance to.

Ludwig. He knows not to direct his anger towards beings who don't deserve it, for the most part. He's been quasi-adopted by the gargoyles outside.

Cannot be trusted with animals:

Morell. He will be too busy picturing how to cook them. Can have one pet. One. With a lot of outside chastising.

Vinnel. He strays from animals so that his impulse to hurt things isn't triggered around one. He knows what he's capable of, and he'd rather just kill people.

Patches. Hee hee hoo hoo free experiment guinea pig.

Grimbly. If the animal is small, it will trigger hunting instincts in him. He can't even help it, immediately chases the thing.

Krulu. If an animal ever falls into his hands, it may not die, but it will also never be the same again. Not even his beloved ravens can escape that.

Sybastian. F O O D .